Daichi, the spirit of adventure! Arf!
by Kigenso
Summary: Daichi is a ninja from the village hidden in the clouds, along his path to both become the best ninja and avenge his murdered master, he gets into loads of trouble and adventure is assured!
1. Arf! Chapter 1

Pre-story notes:

This story is rated T for awesome butt-kicking ninja action, some uncontrolled tempers and a touch of pervyness.

This story is a Naruto story; told long after the event of Naruto and the nine-tailed demon. (Like hundreds of years after.)

Pronunciation of the names are below the story.

I don't own Naruto (Duh!)

If you don't like Naruto don't read my story (Another Duh.)

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

No matter what, I am ready!

"Years ago, the nine-tailed fox demon unleashed a horrible reign of terror on the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The overwhelming power and sheer size of this demon was enough to make a large tree look more like a toothpick! I mean this thing would simply look at you and you'd die from the massive amount of chakra given off. Well anyway, not even all of the ninja from the Leaf Village could stop it, they where killed left and right."

"Then, just as all hope was lost for the poor Leaf Village, the Fourth Hokage came out from the distance and fought the great demon one-on-one." "Even though the beast roared out and lashed at the ninja with pure chakra, the ninja, about the size of an ant to the demon, was an even match for it. The Fourth Hokage knew that nothing good would come out of continuing such a fight; he decided to give his all for his village."

"He made several complicated handsigns and hit the beast in the gut; such a hit from a normal ninja would have never even phased such a massive beast, but remember, this was no normal ninja, this was one of the best ninja ever born, the pinnacle of ninja excellency. The single attack sucked the great beast up and drained its spirit into a young boy, sealed away never to be seen again. The Fourth Hokage, having used a forbidden jutsu as powerful as he had, had drained the last of his chakra. He…"

"Yea I get it, he didn't last till the next day." I cut in as my History teacher almost finished his story, "I have to get going." "But I haven't finished the story yet!" Old man Shigeo yelled out as I jumped out onto the window seal.

"Yea, I get it, demon attacked village, and a great ninja killed it, yadda yadda yadda…" I said back, knowing anything else would give him reason to continue. "But I didn't get to the part whe…" I heard him almost finish as I jumped out into the fresh sunlight. "See ya later Shigeo Arf!" I yelled back at him. It was already three, if I was going to go on the mission with Miku and Ryo I was going to have to get moving.

My name is Daichi Mayato; I am sixteen years old and am a ninja of the Cloud village. I am cool, wild, and impressively awesome looking. I have been called arrogant, quick tempered, and even stupid at times, but who cares what they think.

I have light blonde hair, always a wild mess, even when it dries out when it gets wet it is still a mess, but it is the kind of mess that makes it look cool and wild. I wear my headband where it should be, around my head (Duh.) I have no facial hair (Don't want any anyway.) A 'long' body build, which is defenently enhanced by my muscles (Which I am very proud to have,) and deep murky blue eyes (Like looking into a deep puddle.) I always wear a white shirt, jeans, and a tan jacket with black 'fuzz' around the edges.

"Daichi, why on earth are you 20 minutes late?" Miku asked in a not-so-nice manner as I walked up. "Well, I had to finish something." I said. Well, I guess technically I didn't even finish it… "I thought we would have to leave without you! Whatever reason you have it isn't a good enough reason to not be here on time." Miku lectured me as I double-checked my equipment.

"Oh good, I didn't forget anything." I muttered to myself. "You weren't even listening to me where you!" She continued to rant, "We might as well have just left you h…" "Let's get moving." Ryo interrupted. "Whatever." Miku sulked. "Alright! Let's get this mission done with, I have only a few more missions to go before I'm eligible for the Chunin Exams next month Arf!" I yelled as we started to walk toward my sixth Genin mission.

Even though Ryo was 'officially' the one in charge of the mission, Miku Tsukiko was the one really in charge. She had a temper that could break a tree in half without even touching it, and her impressive strength does nothing but make her even more scary. She has been getting better with following Ryo's orders (Although she still won't listen to me…) And I think she is 'trying' to work on her temper.

She has light red hair (Almost pink, but not quite,) that reached down to her shoulders, that she always puts these two butterfly clips into. She has shallow brown eyes (Like looking at tree bark,) and she always puts her headband around her waist (Almost like a belt,) because she says it always 'gets in the way' of her finer techniques. She is medium built (Not thin, but not large.) And makes a large deal with her appearance (Even during missions.) She wears a light blue shirt and a light purple mini-skirt, which she never allows to get dirty.

The walk was nice (The other two didn't want to run like I did,) we walked through the mountains and the air was fine. It had been so stuffy down in the village that I had almost forgotten what oxygen tasted like. The air had a nice scent to it, a little musty and very pleasant with a light smell of flowers. "Ryo, what is the mission anyway?" I asked after about an hour of walking.

"What?! You didn't read the mission before you left? I made sure to give one to you." Miku piped up. "Well, I just…" "It's a reconnaissance mission" Ryo interrupted, "there are rumors of another village taking up camp within out borders. We have been selected to find them, and observe a few details, but no fighting. That goes for you Daichi." "What me? Fight? Of course not." I replied to Ryo's directions.

"What are the details we need?" Miku asked. "Well, we have a list," Ryo replied. I rolled my eyes at the idea of needing a list for such a task. "First, we need to know who they are." Ryo continued. "Easy enough." "Second, we need to know why they are here," Ryo continued again. "No problem Arf!" "And last," Ryo finished, "we obviously need to know where exactly they are based." "Alright, sounds like an easy job." I said knowing that we'd be in and out within a day's time. "So… No fighting?" I asked. "NO!" Miku yelled at me as we continued walking.

"All I did was ask…"  
"Well, a stupid question deserves a stupid question! It isn't like we're asking you to learn some jutsu that is far to advanced or something…"  
"I'm gunna learn an advanced jutsu?"  
"Oh forget it…"

"Daichi, we are almost there, can you please not run around anymore." Miku asked a long while later. "Fine," I pouted back "killjoy…" She had apparently caught wind of what I had said. "What did you just cal…" "Hold on," Ryo stopped us in our tracks, "There are enemies up ahead." He finished, now whispering. "How do you know?" I asked in a whisper. "How do you think he knows? Have you already forgotten that he's a Hyuga?" Miku said brashly.

Ryo (Ryoichi Hyuga is his full name,) is an odd one, he doesn't talk much, and when he does he doesn't care about not being heard. His attitude matches a turtles, uncaring about anything he isn't directly involved in. His hair is light grey (Almost white,) other than the black tips (Which made the light grey look even whiter,) and it is always combed back with large bangs covering his eyes. It is pulled back into a ponytail (Which I only made the mistake of making fun of once,) and reaches down longer than Miku's hair (About to the middle of his back in fact.)

He wears a tan shirt and brown shorts, and a dark black jacket that has a small turtle neck collar on it (Which I only made the mistake of making fun of once…) His headband is wrapped around his arm, 'so that it is not in the way, but can be seen from afar.' quoted by Ryo himself when asked why he puts his headband there. His eyes are the normal Hyuga white; and his body is in the 'thin' category, he also thinks that practicing his ninja techniques is more important than most other things (Sometimes even eating, which I still don't understand.)

"Well… What's a Hyuga again?" I asked innocently. Wham! Miku hit me in the head so hard I thought I was seeing the enemy. "Don't you remember!? They can see through walls and see chakra! Duh!" She raged almost uncontrollably. I couldn't take her attitude. "Well how am I supposed to remember so many dam…" "Great, look what you two have done." Ryo said pointing to the enemy. "They heard you two arguing over here." "Crap!" Miku yelled to herself. "Alright! Just what I needed Arf!" I yelled as I jumped out at the enemy.

Once the enemy was close I started running faster, eventualy starting to run on all fours. I have to be moving faster for my technique to work, with four enemies I have to take one out quickly. The enemy looked surprised at my speed; I had to take the first one down. Miku and Ryo where not far behind me, I jumped up and tackled the first enemy with a full body tackle, but, right before hitting him, I used chakra to give me a powerful speed boost. The enemy went flying, sailing past the other three and slamming into a tree, knocked out by the force of the assault.

"Eat that!" I yelled at the man. "Don't get over confident, there are still three more Daichi." I heard Miku say behind me. I saw the second come at me with a sword from behind. Right as he swung I jumped backwards, jumping clear over the attacker and landing behind him. "I've got you now Arf!" I took my weapon out quickly and landed a blow on the back of the man's head.

The attacked man slumped to the ground unconscious, bleeding from the wound I had given him with my weapon. I looked at my weapon, it was a staff with a handle, but not just any staff; this staff could break into three pieces and screwed together easily, quicker than any weapon of it's kind in fact. I put it back into my bag and remembered the vow I had made, 'I will never kill another person as long as I live.'

"Daichi!" The other two had already taken out their opponents and Miku was pointing past me. "The other man just ran off, we have to stop him!" Miku yelled as Ryo was tying the men up. I ran after the man, knowing he couldn't have gone far with the injuries that he had. I looked down the hill, no man. Then I saw it, a door in the root of a tree!

I studied the door for traps for a second, and then continued to open the door. The door led to a dark cave, and the door shut behind me automatically. I walked into the cave carefully, I didn't have any light, and I had to walk by touch only. Then, the darkness started to dissipate; the light came from a large cave 'room' the size of a whole city. The whole place was covered in people and buildings and carts and other thing one would find in a small village. I snuck in quietly and quickly found the man that had escaped "Remember, we don't need a full out war, we just need a bit of info without letting them know who we are."

I remembered Ryo saying. I snuck in quietly, making sure that nobody noticed me. The people in here look like nothing but thieves and thugs; this may not be so hard. I was gaining on the man without him noticing, he stopped a moment as if to check for something and I knew a good chance when I saw it. I made a few handsigns, 'Rat, Ox, Dragon, Ram, Reverse Dragon' and I kept repeating it.

The man looked straight at me then seemed to be hypnotized by my handsigns, I started to rock back and forth slowly while doing the handsigns and he started to do the same. I knew the Genjutsu had worked; I started to walk back into a side ally in between buildings and the man followed in a hypnotic trance. Once in the shadows I hit him on the head and knocked him out again. "Nighty night." I joked as I started to sneak out with the man.

By the time I had gotten out, it was dark. I could see a fire nearby and knew that Ryo and Miku had set up camp. "Miku, Ryo!" I yelled out. "What is it Daichi?" Miku asked. "I found the last guy; and a whole lot of other thieves and thugs Arf!"

"Really?"  
"Yea, I'll show you, it's right ove…"

"First," Ryo broke in, "We should tie that guy up and make sure those four can't get away." "Alright." I said, but then my stomach intervened with a large hungry gurgle of its own.

"It looks like we should eat first." Miku said as she grabbed the supplies. It took only about 10 minutes to tie the man up and eat quickly (Although the other two ate soooo slowly.) We walked over to the base of the giant tree, but the door was gone. "What!?" I objected, "The door was just right here, I just went throug…" "Daichi," Ryo said, "I see something beyond this door here. It looks like a large cavern but I can't quite make it out."

"Well, how are we going to get in?" I asked. "Well, if I was a bad guy," Miku answered, "I would have more than just one door into a large secr…" "But," Ryo stated, "They will be just as well hidden as this one. The only way we will be able to find them will be with my Byakugan." "Alright!" I knew we would want to get this mission over quickly. (I know I did.) "This shouldn't take too lon…"

"But I have almost run out of chakra." Ryo said as he walked back toward camp. "We will have to continue the hunt tomorrow." "Alright then!" I yelled, "It looks like we should all get a good night sleep!" "Where on earth do you get all of your energy from?" Miku asked.

"What energy?"  
"You know, your all ready for everything all of the time."  
"Shouldn't all good ninja be ready for everything?"  
"Oh nevermind…"

Names: Shigeo (Shi-Gee-Oh) Miku Tsukiko (Me-ku Tisuk-keyo); Ryoichi Hyuga (Ree-oh-ee-chee Hue-guh); Daichi Hayato. (Die-Chee Hay-ah-toe)

P.S. I am currently looking for a beta! If you want too beta for me, P.M. me!


	2. Arf! Chapter 2

Pre-story notes:

This story is rated T for awesome butt-kicking ninja action, some uncontrolled tempers and a touch of pervyness.

This story is a Naruto story; told long after the event of Naruto and the nine-tailed demon. (Like hundreds of years after.)

Pronunciation of the names are below the story.

I don't own Naruto (Duh!)

If you don't like Naruto don't read my story (Another Duh.)

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

The Thieves Hideout

"Hey guys," I said as the sun began to rise, "it's time for you sleepy-heads to wake up." "Oh put a sock in it Daichi!" Miku shouted as she slowly woke up. "I mean, the sun has hardly come up! How on earth do you suppose we are supposed to function this ear…" "Daichi," Ryo asked as he sat up, "how long have you been up anyway?" "I dunno," I replied thinking about it for a second, "I guess for a few hours now. I has already got breakfast ready for you two and everything Arf!"

"A few hours!" Miku raged, "How on earth do you think that we'd be ready this early in the morning! Why did you wake up hours early anyway?!" "Err… I guess I couldn't sleep." I said, grabbing Ryo's and Miku's breakfast I had made for them. "Eat up! It's eggs and bacon!" The two are slowly, trying to 'wake up' from being asleep for the night. "Come on!" I shouted, ready to start the mission. "We have to find all of the entrances to the thieves' hidou…" "The hideout isn't going away anytime soon Daichi." Ryo said softly as he finished a piece of egg. "Yea Daichi, Crunch" Miku said biting into the crisp bacon. "We have all day to find the other entrances." "Fine, I'll wait." I said impatiently.

Every second seemed like torture, all I wanted to do was get on with it. Miku and Ryo enjoyed small-talk as I sat there impatiently. "Daichi, go run around a bit, maybe you can get rid of some of that bound up energy." Ryo said after I had almost caught a nearby tree on fire. I ran around a bit looking at the terrain nearby. The trees seemed to emit a string pine aroma; it smelled great mixed in with the fresh morning air. I found a small stream too, there was plenty of fish swimming in it, and I tried a few times to catch one with my bare hands, but failed to catch any and quickly grew tired of it. I followed the stream, making sure to remember the way back to camp so I wouldn't get lost.

There where plenty of nice scenery, pine trees everywhere and the view from where we were on the mountain was great! There were many birds still in there nest (Guess they weren't the early birds.) And I found a few small holes in the ground, but couldn't tell if they where gofer holes or not. Then, I heard the bushed move nearby, and I jumped silently into the nearby bushed. There where three people, they each had large bags filled heavy with stuff (Most likely anything they could get their hands on that was worth anything.)

The first was large. Like 'I'll break you like a twig' large. The second looked more ninjaish, not very big but he knew what he was doing. The third looked very old and knowledgeable, kind of like a master who had been through this for years and years. Together it looked like they made a nice group, each one having different characteristics to back each other up.

I slowly followed the three, making sure not to be seen or heard. Then, one of the men stopped, "Who is there?" He drew a kunai out and I instantly knew he had some ninja training of some sort. I didn't know quite what to do, so I jumped out of the bushes and rammed into the guy. The guy was knocked onto the ground and I somehow ended up with the large bag he had been holding. I went to attack a second man, but I couldn't move. The second guy had his hands in a handsign, and my hands where in the same handsign! I didn't know what I was doing.

"The Shadow Possession jutsu is complete," The man said, "what should we do with this thief?" Thief? I'm not a thief, I'm a Cloud ninja. Oh yea! I forgot my headband back at camp! "Let's get rid of him." The third man said with a smirk while drawing his sword. "Hold up Arf!" I said, making sure to sound like I knew what I was talking about, "I mistook you guys for travelers; you guys really should do more to show that you're thieves." "What?" The first man said askingly, "So you aren't a rouge thief?" "Of course not," I slowed my heartbeat down and talked more calmly, "I was coming to the base when I spotted you, when you noticed me I decided it was the time to attack."

"Oh come on boss," The third man said, "are you really going to believe him?" "Hey! I make the call around here!" The 'boss' growled at him, "If he knew of the thieves base around here he can't be a fake. Only expert thieves and thugs are allowed into there." "Fine." Both of the other two said, acknowledging that the first was the boss. "Sorry to get off on the wrong foot," The boss said, "my name is Ontai. I am the leader of a small group of bandits; it looks like you ran into the right person." "This here is Sozoku," Ontai said pointing to man #2, "and that" Pointing to the other man, "is Touzoku."

Dangit, I can't give the man my real name, what do I say? "My name is Gimei, I am a master thief." I said, making up a name on the go. "So you where headed to the Thieves hideout where you?" Ontai asked. "Yea." I said; the second man finally let me go of his Jutsu. "Who do you work for then?" Ontai asked. I know he expected an instantaneous answer, so I spewed out the first thing that came to mind. "I work for whoever pays me the most." "AH! You ARE a master thief." Ontai said; this was obviously some kind of 'word recognition test' to tell who is a thief and who is not. I got very lucky with that one.

"So, I haven't had any company in a while. I think I'll stay with you until we get back to the hideout." I said, hoping that they would lead me through a different door than the last one I went through. "Hey, stay with us for a job; we could use a master thief as good as a loner." Ontai said. "But boss, I'm the master thief of the group." Touzoku grieved. "Not another word Touzuku, we'll still need you too, I was planning a job that needed many more thieves anyway."

I followed them and spent a lot of time listening, knowing that the more I talked the more obvious it would be that I wasn't a thief. "So, I was on the roof of the building" Touzoku was telling me a story, "and the neighbors had spotted me from their top window. And do you know what I did then?" He asked, knowing I obviously didn't have the answer.

"What did you do?"

"I took my blade and sliced a hole in the roof, I was gone so quickly that they didn't even know if I had really been there!" He said laughing to himself. I made a smirk, making sure to seem like I was interested. "Here we are!" Ontai said, coming to the side of a large rock. He pressed a branch on a nearby tree downward and a door appeared in the side of the rock. "Everyone in before anyone see's us."

After we walked in, we walked to a building toward the middle of the large underground hideout. Ontai knocked on the door four times in a rhythmic pattern, "We are hungry and have nothing to sell," He said, obviously some sort of code. The door opened, and we all walked into the building. "Hey, there was nobody at the door." I exclaimed out loud "Yea, Sozoku put a Jutsu on the door." Ontai answered, "It will only open with the code." There where even more people inside the building then I had originally noticed. There was, altogether, about 50 people now inside the building. Ontai showed the plans to the entire group and began to talk about the plan.

I studied it and didn't recognize the building at first, but then it hit me. The building they where going to rob was the Raikage's building! "Alright, everyone know the plan?" Ontai said after finishing with the plans. "How much will we make?" Someone from the group spoke up. "Well," Ontai said speaking like as if it wasn't much, "let's just say that by the time we are done all of you will have enough for food for many years!" "Hurray!" The whole crowd shouted. "One last thing, when will it take place?" Anther man asked. "Be near the Cloud village gates at 9:00 PM in two days, meeting over." Ontai said, finishing the discussion. I knew that this couldn't be good!

I left the building, and walked toward the exit I had used the other day, the one at the base of the tree near our camp. While walking I saw a man with a map in his hands, it was a map of the surrounding area of the hideout. "Hey," I said to the man, "is that a map?" "Yea," he said coldly. "Could I have it?" I asked. "Of course not! This is a hand graphed map of this place and the surrounding area. Do you not know who I am?!" He said in a very dramatic way. "Well.." I started to say. "I am Chizu! The greatest map maker who has ever lived!" He said even more boldly than before.

"That's nice," I said in a sarcastic way, "can I buy that map from you?"  
"How much do you have?"  
"Err… 150 yen… And some string."  
"Ha, 150 yen for a map as great as this?"  
"And some string."  
"I don't want your string!"  
"Oh…"

"You are a master thief right?" He asked. "N… Yea! I am!" I said, almost blowing my false identity. "Good, if you can get me a map of the Stone Village or of the Sand Village area from my competitor Shazou, I will give you this map." Chizu said. "Alright! I will get you that map Arf!" I said, ready for anything. "He lives in a large brick building, it has a large sign on it that says 'map' so you can't miss it!" He said "Just be back here in two hours." Chizu said as I ran off toward the direction he pointed me.

The building was easy enough to find, it was three stories high and made of red brick. It even had the 'maps' sign on it like Chizu had said. But I could already tell it was going to be hard to get the map. The whole building has electric wire running across the sides, the doors all had large locks on them, and the windows had massive bars on them. "Crud," I said to myself, as I scoped out the building. I didn't know what was inside the building either, I'd have to come up with a plan on the fly. I walked up the building next to the target building using chakra (Have to love chakra,) and jumped across to the roof of the target building. I climbed carefully into the top window (Making sure not to get shocked,) and carefully slid inside.

I had landed myself in the attic, not such a bad place to come into. I carefully and silently walked down the nearby stairs and tried to find where the maps where kept. I checked all the unoccupied rooms' closets, cupboards, drawers, and even under the bed. "Damnit." I cursed silently to myself; I just couldn't find those maps. I heard footsteps coming into the room I was in. I carefully hid behind the door and once he was preoccupied I slipped out of the room and downstairs. "Whew, that was close." I said to myself once downstairs. "What was close?" A man asked from the corner. "Um… Uh…" I stuttered, scared at what may happen next; I had been caught as a thief!

"Who are you and why are you here?" The man asked. "I am… Um…" I stuttered again. Remember the fake name you gave yourself damnit! "My name is Gimei," I said, now unsure of whether he would buy it, "and I have come for a map of the Sand village." "Hm…" He said, looking me over really good, "so, you're a novice thief am I right?" "Uh…"

"Oh don't lie; you obviously passed yourself off as an expert thief in order to get into the hideout."  
"Yea…" I lied.  
"Well, I guess we all have to start somewhere," he said, "My name is Shazou. I am a master map maker."

"So, you have come for a Sand village map?" Shazou asked. "Yea, I have." I said, feeling very nervous. "Don't act so worried, I won't bust you for trying to rob me." He said calmly, "I bet it was that man Chizu that asked for this job, am I right?" "Yea, how did you know?" I asked inquisitively. "Well, Chizu and I go far back, we had a gang together. Our gang was some of the best known thieves in the land, you may have heard of some of them." He said in a narrative way. "As Chizu and I grew older I began making maps and he started making lock-picks. Unfortunately for Chizu, good lock-picks became easy to get, but maps of certain areas where rare, and the one making them makes lots of money by selling them." He said, pointing to himself.

"Here you go 'Gimei'." Shazou said while handing me two maps. "Those two maps are fake, but Chizu won't know that. And because you've got both now you can get a lot from my old nemesis Chizu." "Oh wow Arf!" I said in wonder, "thanks a ton." "Screw Chizu for everything he's got ok?" He said as he walked back to his desk. "O.K." I replied. He stopped me for a moment before I left. "Oh, and you may want a better false name than Gimei if you know what I mean." He said winking at me. "Thank you," I said as I started to leave. "You don't know how much this helps."

I waited at the same spot I had met Chizu. It wasn't fun waiting but I knew that I couldn't risk leaving and missing him. The amount of foot traffic inside of the thieves hideout was astounding, there was more people pass through the area than pass through the Cloud village gates on a typical day. "There you are!" I heard Miku from behind me. "Miku," I replied, "What are you doing here?" "Well when you went missing we went in search for you, we couldn't leav…" Miku replied with a smile. "The door wasn't too hard to figure out," Ryo interrupted, "I could easily see through the mechanism with my Byakugan."

"Hey," I said quickly, "that's great, but I'm about to make a trade from a map of this place." "Really?!" Miku said in surprise, "That's aweso…" "Come on Miku." Ryo said as he grabbed Miku quickly. "We'll be back here Daichi. Just come over here when you are done." I waited longer for Chizu, I knew that this map would be important. It took only about five minutes after Miku and Ryo had hid that I saw Chizu in the crowd.

"Do you have a map?" He asked nervously. "Yes, I got both of them, they are right here." I said showing them to him. He looked over them quickly, looking for any reason to believe that the maps where fake. "Fine, here you go." Chizu said handing me the map. "Hold up," I said as he started to walk away, "the rate was a map for a map, you only gave me one." "What else do you want?" He asked. "Do you have any large, general maps?" I asked, knowing one might come in handy someday. "Yea, here you go." Chizu said, shoving into my hand and leaving quickly.

"Alright Arf! We have the map" I said as I walked over to Miku and Ryo. "Nice now we can get out of this weird pl…" Miku said. "And we can get the village to raid this place and arrest most of these thieves." Ryo interrupted. "Yea!" I said as we started walking. "Oh crud!" I had just remembered that other ninja would come in here and shut down this place. "I have to do something quickly," I said to Miku and Ryo, "can you meet me back at where our camp was?" "Sure? What do you have to do Daichi" Miku answered back. "Long story, I'll tell you on the way back." I said as I ran off.

I ran quickly back to the building I had 'robbed', I sure hope that Shazou was still there. "Shazou," I said as I opened the door. He wasn't there, but I could hear fighting upstairs. I slowly walked up the stairs, making sure that nobody would hear me come up. "Where is the map that I am seeking?" I heard a man say in question to someone else. "What map? There are no maps here." I heard Shazou saying behind the door. "Don't lie to me!" The man said as he struck Shazou. Shazou cried in pain as he was struck with something. I bolted into the room and came at the man with a punch; it connected loosely and knocked the man back.

"Ah," The man said as he stood up, "you are just the boy that I was searching for." (He was the second man from the gang, oh, what was his name… Oh right, Sozoku!) "Sozoku!" I growled at him, "What do you want with Shazou Arf?!" "Ah, don't you know who I really am?" Sozoku asked.

"What? You're Sozoku."

"Ha! Just the answer I'd expect from a dog like you!" he spit the word at me like an arrow as he uncovered his face. I remembered his face; it was the leader of the ninja that had attacked me and my master in the woods. It was the ninja that had taken the life of my master!

He had black hair and almost black eyes, he breathed so lightly he didn't seem to need to breathe at all. He wore a black robe with dark gray stars and moons on them. His body was sleek, and the muscles, although you couldn't see them most of the time, where massive when he flexed and stretched them. His face had one of the biggest details on him; his face had one scar crossing from top to bottom on his right side of his face.

"You!" I barked at him as I drew my weapon. "No use," the man said snidely. He was right; I was stuck in my tracks. It was only then I noticed his shadow connecting to mine. "That's right, shadow possession jutsu." He said with such a snicker that it made my spine freeze over. "Damn you!" I snapped as I pushed toward the man with all of my strength. "Ah, you are strong!" He said as he made the handsign again.

A man came from downstairs past us; I quickly bit the man in the shoulder as he passed me. "Ouch!" He exclaimed as he got ready to punch me, then stopped as he noticed Sozoku's shadow connected to mine. "Very good," Sozoku said as the man handed a map to him, "I have no time to play now dear pup, just remember this. My name is Katakiyaku. But you may call me Katak." He said calmly "Wait you bast…" I began to rage as he and his underling both made the same handsign and disappeared.

"Damnit Arf!" I growled. "Shazou, are you ok?" I asked as I helped him up. "Yea, why did you come back here?" He asked as he got up. "Oh, right!" I remembered, "it's a long story, but I came to tell you that you need to leave the thieves hideout by tomorrow, that is if you know what I mean." I said as I winked at him. "Thank you for your advice and for helping me." Shazou said, "I owe you my life." I smiled for a second when he said that. "Now, isn't there somewhere where you are supposed to be?" He asked as if he already knew my plans. "Oh yea," I remembered as I walked out the door, "Thank you for the maps." "No, thank you for coming back and saving me!" He yelled back at me as I left.

"Hey Daichi," Miku greeted me as I walked out of the thieves hideout. "Hey there Miku." "Took you long enough didn't it?" Miku half asked as we started walking. "I got into a little trouble along the way…" I replied, remembering the evil face of Katak. "So, what exactly happened while you where gone?" She asked me with wonder. "Well it started after I had left the camp, there was these three guys there that…" I started my story of what had happened as we walked home to the Cloud village.

Names: Shazou (Sh-ah-zoo); Katakiyaku (Kah-tahk-ee-yack-oo); Chizu (Chee-zoo); Gimei (gi-mee) (Means 'false identity' in Japanese); Ontai (own-tai); Sozoku (Soh-Zoh-koo); Touzoku (Toh-Zoh-koo) Miku Tsukiko (Me-ku Tisuk-keyo); Ryoichi Hyuga (Ree-oh-ee-chee Hue-guh); Daichi Hayato. (Die-Chee Hay-ah-toe)


	3. Arf! Chapter 3

Pre-story notes:

This story is rated T for awesome butt-kicking ninja action, some uncontrolled tempers and a touch of pervyness.

This story is a Naruto story; told long after the event of Naruto and the nine-tailed demon. (Like hundreds of years after.)

Pronunciation of the names are below the story.

I don't own Naruto (Duh!)

If you don't like Naruto don't read my story (Another Duh.)

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

9:00 PM! Race to the finish!

Due to the untimely manner in which I had gotten lost, we where forced to take up camp later that night (Even though I wanted to keep going.) The other two made me promise not to make them up the next morning, something about that they needed 'sleep' or something of the sort. I fell asleep quickly and didn't wake until early the next morning (Later than yesterday but earlier than most people wake up I guess…)

"Mmm… Yawn!" Miku yawned out as she awoke from her nights sleep. "Good morning Miku Arf!" I greeted her patiently. "Morning…" She grogged as she stood up. "Here's breakfast again!" I said, handing her a fresh hot plate of ham and hash browns. "Wow," Miku said in a sort of amazed way, "it's kind of nice having you around in the morning when you aren't annoying. Where's Ryo?" She asked as she started on her plate. "Oh, he woke up about an hour ago and went off to practice. I wanted to go with him but he said that he never lets anybody see his best techniques." I pouted as I sat down and tried to enjoy the cool morning air (It's harder than it looks! I really wanted to go play around but I also wanted to leave soon.)

"So Daichi," Miku said once she finished her plate, "where are you originally from?" She asked calmly. "I mean, you just moved into the village less than a month ago," She continued to explain her question, "and you sleep in the Raikage's building too." She stated in a not so sure way. "Well," I answered, remembering what had happened almost a month ago. "For a long time, I lived with my master, Master Yoshiro. He was a world renowned ninja and Master Yoshiro and I traveled together, learning new jutsu and taking care of each other." I paused for a moment as I selected my words carefully; Miku was on the edge of her seat waiting for what had happened. "We where in the forest, looking for a high class ninja criminal that had escaped the Cloud village, and we where attacked."

I withdrew my memories from my head like someone would pick up a cactus, very carefully. "It was a group of 5 expert ninja, they had seen us coming and worked for the S class ninja we where looking for." Miku held her breath as I slowly recalled the fight. "My master talked calmly to them, trying to reason with them. But, one of the ninja attacked him without much warning. Master Yoshiro drew his sword so quickly that not even the rays of the sun would have escaped from his attack. The first ninja went down quickly, but the second and third both attacked at the same time, they both took out there weapons, one had a sword, the other took out an axe."

"I went to attack the ninja but I was stuck in place, I couldn't move at all. Master Yoshiro made some handsigns and blew away both of the attacking ninja and two shuriken that the last two had throw without me even noticing with a wind style jutsu. The fourth and fifth ninjas both threw shuriken again then started making handsigns. Master Yoshiro dodged them both with a jump and came down on the fourth ninja, but the fifth landed a fireball jutsu on him, Master Yoshiro was gravely injured."

"Master Yoshiro threw his sword at the last ninja and killed him, but as he did so another ninja jumped out from the shadows behind me. I could move now and yelled out to my master, "Master Yoshiro! Watch out Arf!" I yelled out, but it was too late. The ninja had struck Master Yoshiro through his gut with his sword; the blood ran out across the blade in a deadly crimson glow. "That's impossible!" Master Yoshiro said as the ninja took off his hood. The ninja then looked back at me; it was the same man as yesterday, Katak. He took something from my master's bag and left swiftly. I knew I couldn't catch him and stayed with my master."

"I walked up to my master as I cried. To my surprise he spoke "Daichi," he spoke softly, "Come here." I spent the next five minutes alone with him before he died. Then, just before he was about to die, he spoke again. "I wish for you to go to the Cloud village. There is a map in my bag, I want you to go there, become a great ninja!" He said proudly as he slowly slipped away. "Master Yoshiro!" I cried out to no avail. "No! Master Yoshiro, you must… stay… with me Arf!" I yelled while crying out loud. In that moment I lost my master, and gained a new role in life, I was to become the best ninja who has ever lived!"

"Oh!" Miku cried out, "Poor Daichi! I never knew you had been through suc…" "So," Ryo interrupted, he had been listening to me for quite a while. "The man you saw yesterday was the same man who killed your master, right?" "Yea," I said, sad from having to remember what had happened. "Well," Miku said, trying to change the subject. "We should get going now if we want to walk at this pace and be home by tomorrow morning." It suddenly hit me; like a sumo wrestler jumping on top of me from a five story building. "Guys!" I exclaimed, "I just remembered something important Arf!"

I told them everything I had remembered from Ontai's plan yesterday. "So, let me get this right," Miku said in a half angry way, "you 'forgot' that a whole bunch of high class criminals are going to attack the Raikage's building tonight?!" She was angry that I had forgotten about it, but Ryo was just happy to know that we now knew about the plan. "Alright then you two," Ryo said, taking command quickly. "There is only one good way to go about this." "Yea?" I said, semi-amazed that Ryo already had a plan of action. "Daichi," Ryo said quickly, "go back to the village as quick as you can and tell the Raikage. Me and you," He said pointing to Miku, "will stay here and lay traps for them to slow them down."

"Why me? Why do I have to…" I asked, wanting a taste of action. "Because, not only do you have little knowledge of traps," Ryo answered swiftly. "But also because you are the fastest among us, if there is any chance of telling the Raikage before they arrive, you are our best bet. Now go!" He said pointing me in the right direction. I ran, I ran as fast as I could, knowing that a lot of bad things would happen if I didn't reach the Raikage's office in time. I started to run on all fours, knowing it would be the only way to reach there before they did. The ground beneath me was not a hindrance, even though there were thorns and thistles along the rocky mountain trail, they couldn't detour me from my route.

"Hey guys," I heard Ontai's voice up ahead and stopped. "Wasn't leaving early better than rushing through these mountains?" "Yea, it sure was." I heard another man say. I followed them from behind; there were about 20 of them, way more than I could handle alone. "I have to find a different route than the one they are on…" I said; making sure they couldn't hear me. I took out the large general map to find a better route. "There it is," I said silently to myself, "It's a cave that leads to the other side of the mountains. If I can cut across there I will make it in no time."

I went to where the entrance was supposed to be, but I couldn't find it. "Dangit, where is that cave?" I asked myself as I searched around. It took me a little while to figure out that the cave had been sealed off with a rock, and the rock has a sealing tag on it. But the sealing tag was broke; other people had been coming through there even after the tag was in place. The rock was covering of the cave almost most of the way, but I could squeeze through without too much trouble. "Well, here I go Arf!" I said to myself as I got ready to enter the cavern.

I slowly walked into the cave. The air was stale and I could tell nobody had been in here for quite a while. "Not many people must know about this cave." I said quietly, the words echoed off the walls. I slowly walked forward, having no light jutsu or even fire jutsu I had to just use the little bit of light that was there. Clank my foot hit something hard and metal, it was a torch. I thought of an idea, I took a paper bomb out of my pouch and tore off a piece of it. I put the rest back into my bag and hoped that I didn't just ruin that paper bomb.

I put the piece of paper bomb on the end of the torch that was meant to be lit (Obviously the best place to light a torch.) I activated the torn piece and backed away a little. Pop the piece burst and the torch caught fire. "Cool," I said to myself, the words still echoing across the cavern. "I'm going to have to remember that one." Having the light was great, but knowing what was originally holding the torch wasn't such a nice thing. It was a skeleton, a human skeleton; my heart skipped a beat as I saw it and also noticed a lack of vermin around the cave floor.

I walked slowly; hoping it was either natural causes or another random person had killed the man back there. But, that idea was soon proved wrong as I walked into a large cavern 'room' with numerous skeletons lying on the ground. "Crud," I said softly, making sure to speak so my words wouldn't echo. Thhssss I heard something large move somewhere to my left; I slowly walked toward the sound making sure to keep quiet. The suspense was deadly; a single breath would have been enough to break through it. Then, creeping on me as quickly as the silence had, nothing…

I awoke, my feet and hands where bound together in a cleaver rope knot. I slowly gathered the information that I so desperately needed. I was still in the cave; there was a very dull fire pit lighting up the entire cavern I was in. There where four people and a dog sitting around the dull fire. The air was rank with odor, to such an extent that the very air was hard to breathe in. "Ah, so he is awake." I heard a voice say as all four of the people still sat at the fire. "Hello?" I asked, afraid of what would come next.

"Welcome," I heard the voice, but it wasn't coming from the people sitting there. "You are next to become one of my slaves." The voice said cruelly as I tried to stand. "It is no use air breather." The chilling voice seemed to come from nowhere. "You are stuck there, never in my lifetime have I seen anyone break my knot." "Who are you?!" I yelled out, now deathly afraid for my life. "I am Shiin, also known as the Ash-born Slave-dealer. You have stumbled into my lair and now, you will become on of my slaves."

It was only then that I noticed that the four people where no longer people at all, they where more zombies than people. And there where more of them than just four, the whole large 'room' was filled with dozens of these things. They didn't blink, the hardly moved, and they apparently didn't even feel pain for one of them was on fire! The room was lit (Even though not very much,) but I still couldn't see any rats anywhere, for such a dark and dirty place I would expected rats.

I sat there for a moment, the voice had left but I could stiff feel something nearby. It took a moment before the presence finally went away, that's when I started to think about an escape. The 'thing' had taken away my pouch, but I had a knife hidden in the top part of my jacket, 'A ninja always has to have extra weapons on him' Master Yoshiro had taught me that lesson after we had been captured together and he had a trick like this up his sleeve. I grabbed the knife with my teeth and carefully dropped it down into my hand that where tied behind my back.

Within a few minutes the ropes where loose enough that I could break through it. "Alright…" I said with a heavy chest, the freezing nasty air was starting to get to me. "You aren't getting away that easily," Shiin slowly appeared behind me. He wasn't human; it was some sort of ghost! It was wearing some sort of black full body cloak and had a face that would make grown men cry (Trust me, I will have nightmares about that face as long as I live.)

"What are you!?" I yelled out as I slowly backed up. "I have already told you," It's didn't have a mouth and yet sound still came forth. "Do you not remember? My name is Shiin; I am the Ash-born Slave-dealer. I am neither alive nor dead. I am the one that torments your nightmares even while you are awake and the one watching you from the shadows at the dead of night." As he said this it moved closer, the air around it was even colder than the freezing air I was already breathing.

"NO!" I screamed out as I came at it with a punch. The punch went right through it and connected with the rock wall, and Pop just like that I had broken my right hand wrist. "Ah!" I was deathly terrified of the thing, whatever it was, it wasn't human. I ran, through the dark caverns and pathways, running for my very life. "It is no use air breather." The voice said from behind me. "The only way out is by giving up." "Never!" I yelled as I continued to run, running into walls and dead ends. "I can't give up! There are still things I must do on this earth!" I yelled back as I continued to run.

The cold, nasty, wet, cave air had finally gotten to me. I couldn't run anymore, but I had to keep moving, I knew I would be unable to fight the thing with a broken wrist. "You are stronger than you look, I will let you be my slave and enjoy life with me." The thing said as it appeared in front of me. "Or," It said as an alternative, "you can continue to resist me and enjoy death by yourself!" "No, I can't enjoy life like this," I replied back to it, out of breath but still walking away from it. "And I can't enjoy death either. Not like this, I must fulfill my master's wish before I die."

I slowly continued to back up, my breath become whimpering and my eyes where getting heavier. "Spiteful child," It said, still walking toward me. "How can you enjoy life all alone? Do you not long to be part of something else? Something bigger and better than you alone?" It asked these answer rhetorically, "If the one you live your life for is dead," It was almost to the right spot. "How can you ever enjoy living?"

BOOM! The explosive tag I had set on the cave wall went off. The cave wall was busted open, and led out into the fresh air, I was also caught in the explosion, but the fresh air coming from the hole in the wall was heavenly. "I can live my life with enjoyment for one reason," I answered the thing, speaking with more pride than before. "I can enjoy life because I have a dream worth dieing for! This is something the likes of you can never learn." I was lying down; a large rock shard had smashed into my leg and broke it. "Foolish air breather!" The thing hadn't died; it didn't look like it had even been injured by the suicidal attack.

"How dare you defy me," The thing said, now that it was standing right over me I could see it now, the explosion had hurt it; there was a large, gaping hole through its right shoulder. "Do you not know? My body is made of the souls that are trapped and killed in this cave. No matter how much you hurt me there will always be more victims foolishly come to this cave like you did." The thing had its hand on my forehead and was sucking the life out of me. I couldn't speak, and I could hardly move at all. "Now you will join my ranks as one of my slaves." It said coldly. "As I said, nobody has even esca…" Suddenly it was driven back by a sudden burst of light that came in through the hole I had made in the wall.

"Hsss…" The thing hissed at the light and its body dissipated into the darkness(The light from the explosion must have been what hurt it.) "Hold on kid," a voice spoke softly to me. "It'll be ok now. What is your name?" "My name," I had a hard time speaking, "is Daichi." I noticed the Cloud village headband around his head. "Ah! Thank god!" the man said, "You aren't dead. My name is Amasu, and you look pretty beat up." "That was one mean spirit you put up a fight against." Amasu said. "It is impossible to fully destroy it without killing every last body in there that the thing had devoured the life of."

"It was once a man," He said as he lifted me up and started walking, "that man had gotten lost in that cave and couldn't find his way out." "He eventually found a man, who knew his way around the cave but wouldn't help the man because he didn't want too." Amasu continued his story. "Even though he ate rats for many years, he didn't have any fresh water and air. Eventually the rats stopped coming, and travelers started to use the large cave system to travel through. In order to keep himself alive, the man used a forbidden technique to drain the life force from the travelers."

"But in doing so, it cost him his body and whatever was left of his soul. He slowly was transformed by his hate and greed of life into what he is now. He is bound to the place, he may never leave and any bright light is harmful to him." He finished up and took a long breath. "Some ninja sealed off the cave about ten years ago to make sure nobody was victim to him again, but it looks like we need a tighter seal on that door right?" He asked me with a wink.

"The Raikage's office," I said in my half daze. "It's going to be attacked tonight at nine." "At nine you say?" He asked and I simply nodded back. "Alright then, it's almost nine right now so we have to move." He sped up quicker and I finally passed out from exhaustion.

Names: Katak (Kah-tahk); Ontai (own-tai); Amasu (am-ass-oo); Shiin (Sh-in); Miku Tsukiko (Me-ku Tisuk-keyo); Ryoichi Hyuga (Ree-oh-ee-chee Hue-guh); Daichi Hayato. (Die-Chee Hay-ah-toe)


End file.
